Taxes Test Limits of Health Reform Bipartisanship
5150235In his praise of the health reform package that passed out of a Senate panel on Wednesday, President Obama said the bill was "a hopeful sign of bipartisan support for the final product -- if people are serious about bipartisanship."
The tenuous nature of bipartisan talks over health care were clear, however, from the divided vote on the bill, which passed 13 to 10.
The issue of how to bring in revenues for a significant portion of the reform efforts -- namely, what new taxes or tax increases to institute -- remains at the crux of the strained negotiations.
Three different House committees are diving into negotiations today over the House legislation introduced Tuesday, which raises taxes on individuals who make more than $280,000, couples who make more than $350,000 and raises taxes by 5.4 percent on those who make more than $1 million a year. Republicans in the House Ways and Means Committee said this morning they would fight the tax plan, the Associated Press reported, and introduced more than a dozen amendments to the bill -- though Democrats have more than enough votes on the committee to pass the measure as it stands.
Republicans aren't the only roadblock to the tax measure, though. A group of first-year Democrats sent a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi arguing that the tax would be too burdensome for small businesses, Roll Call reported. The Moderate Blue Dog Democrats have made clear they also oppose the health care bill as it stands.
As Democrats and Republicans draw lines in the sand over the House bill and the Senate bill already in play, all eyes now fall to the Senate Finance Committee, which is facing extreme pressure to produce a more moderate health care reform package before the week is up. The committee could produce a bipartisan deal by the end of today, Politico reports.
The president met today with two senators who could prove critical in the Senate Finance Committee's negotiations -- Democrat Ben Nelson of Nebraska and Republican Olympia Snowe of Maine. Nelson originally opposed the proposal for a government-sponsored health insurance plan, but as one of the last Senate Democrat holdouts against the plan, he changed his position in late May. Now, Nelson is complaining his constituents will not approve of House proposal to tax the wealthy.
"Tax is a four-letter word" with voters, he said, according to the Washington Post.
Snowe, meanwhile, is one of the few Republicans negotiating with Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, Politico reports. And according to Congressional Quarterly, she is on board for a new proposal out of the Finance Committee to levy a tax on insurers' premiums. Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) said the plan could raise $75 billion to $100 billion.
As the tussle over taxes continues, Congress' August deadline for reform creeps closer. As time wears on, the White House appears to be less concerned with bipartisanship.
"We'd like to do it with the votes of members of both parties," White House Chief Political Strategist Dave Axelrod told Bloomberg. "But the worst result would be to not get health-care reform done."
The president underscored his new thinking on bipartisanship yesterday, when he praised the health care bill already introduced in the Senate. He said it was a "hopeful sign" of bipartisanship because it included more than 160 Republican amendments -- nevermind the missing votes.